Just you and me
by Midnight Rendezvous
Summary: Everytime he's going to take the drugs, she comes and stops him. And even though they're close, troubles appear from everywhere and makes them doubt everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Just a Charlie/Claire (with Aaron) fan fic. Taking place in season 2.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

He sat there, on a rock, all alone just looking at the statuette which he was holding. Inside it there was heroin, lots of it. It had been a long time since Charlie had his last fix, and he had not thought about it much until Sayid took him to the plane where he had found the heroin. As much as he wanted to give into temptation and take the drugs, he also did not want to. He had a whole new life now and now he had to choose between them. The drugs or his new life.

"Hey, Charlie," Claire broke the silence and watched Charlie from behind. "What are you doing out here? I was starting to get worried."

"Oh hi, Claire, I'm just taking a moment to think…" Charlie said nervously and sneaked down the statuette in his backpack and rose, looking at the blonde woman in front of him. "Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly but she just shook her head.

"No, you just didn't tell me you were heading out. I think Aaron missed his bedtime story." Claire said and smiled weakly, looking down at her feet. Charlie smiled a little too and walked to her.

"Come on; let's go back to the caves." Charlie said and walked back with her, leaving his earlier thoughts behind.

A child crying, a mother's calming voice. Charlie's eyes fluttered wide open and he sat up and saw Claire desperately trying to calm Aaron, but she had no success. He rose from the ground, yawning but walking closer to Claire.

He remembered his thoughts from last night and how close he had been to take the drugs, he was happy that Claire had showed up when she had. Charlie walked to her and put his hand at her shoulder but she shuddered it off.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Charlie asked worriedly and looked at her. She turned to him and rocked Aaron gently and shook her head.

"He woke up half an hour ago… I've tried to calm him but he won't be quiet." Claire said and felt tears well up in her eyes and she continued to rock Aaron.

"M-Maybe you should go to Jack-" Charlie said but was cut off by Claire's desperate voice.

"And what can he do about it? You make it sound like I am doing something wrong and I'm not… it's just that no one ever taught me how to take care of a baby!" Claire said and still rocked Aaron but he didn't stop.

Charlie felt helpless; he cared too much about Claire to let her do everything herself. Then she would only wear herself out and then at the end, not be able to be there for Aaron. He looked down and then he looked at Claire, reaching his arms out.

"Then let _me _take him, Claire. That's the least I can do," Charlie said and saw that she was about to protest. "I won't take a 'no' for an answer so please…" he said and looked at her. Claire gave Aaron to Charlie with a sad look at her face.

"Just, take good care about him, will you? I'll be right here." Claire said and sat down, leaning against the cave wall. Charlie nodded and started walking while rocking Aaron.

Soon he found himself at the beach and he had finally gotten Aaron to stop crying. Though, it looked like he would start again soon. _Poor Claire… _Charlie thought and looked down at Aaron.

"Hey dude, how's the nanny-thing going on?" Hurley asked and walked against Charlie. Charlie frowned and had an offended look at his face.

"Nanny- wait, it's not a _nanny-thing_! Claire was tired and Turnip-head wouldn't be quiet so I took him a while." Charlie said and looked seriously at Hurley who chuckled.

"Whatever you say, man." He said and walked past Charlie, against his tent.

Charlie looked down at Aaron and raised his brow. "Nanny-thing? No I'm just taking care of you 'til your mommy feels better." Aaron smiled as he heard Charlie's voice and then he yawned. Charlie walked around the beach some more, meeting people who commented on how cute Aaron was. _He's not a bloody puppy-dog! _Charlie thought and sighed.

He saw that the sun was going down and he guessed it was getting pretty late so he started heading back to the caves since Claire would start worry soon enough.

In the caves, Claire had just woken up and noticed that it was already getting late. She had slept through the whole day. She saw Charlie's backpack but guessed that he wasn't back with Aaron yet. Rising slowly, she noticed something in his backpack. She reached for it and saw that it was a statuette of Virgin Mary and she looked at it.

"Claire?" Charlie asked and she turned around, still holding the statuette. "What are you doing?"

"You are back… oh uhm, I was going to move your backpack and this fell out. What is it?" Claire asked. Charlie walked to her, handing over Aaron to her, taking the statuette instead.

"It's the Virgin Mary, Claire. I found it in the jungle, just thought it might come in handy." Charlie said and shrugged, looking intensely on it.

"How would a statuette of Virgin Mary come in handy?" Claire asked and chuckled, looking at Charlie.

"Claire, maybe we should get something to eat…" Charlie said. She nodded slowly and walked away with him.


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark and Claire was sitting by Aaron's cradle, watching him sleep. She was so grateful that Charlie had taken care of him earlier, she actually trusted him but Claire knew that he didn't really know that. She stared down at his son and then she heard footsteps behind her and she turned her head and saw Charlie and her heart skipped a beat, she didn't know why.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you there…" Charlie said and sat down next to her, looking at Aaron.

"No it's okay; I wasn't ready to see you, that's all." Claire said and nodded, smiling a little.

"He fell asleep, huh? That's good. Then you can get some sleep too." Charlie said and smiled back. She shrugged and heaved a small sigh, noticing that he was holding the statuette in his hands and she raised her brow.

"Why do you keep that around, Charlie? Does it really mean anything to you?" Claire asked and motioned for the statuette. Charlie held it up and looked at it, shrugging a little. What it meant to him? Not much, it was the stuff inside of it, the drugs. He would need them someday, he was sure, at least if Claire would disappear, would she disappear? "Charlie?"

Charlie awoke from his thoughts and he looked at Claire. "Oh uhm, no it doesn't really matter anything to me… it's just that it's the Virgin Mary." Charlie said and looked at it again.

"I didn't know you were so religious… it's just the way you look at it. I've never seen you looking so intensely-" Claire said but Charlie cut her off.

"Look, Claire, I just think it's nice, alright?" Charlie said, a little harder than he meant. "I'm sorry, I-I just-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me, its okay. I understand." Claire stated and lifted up Aaron out of the cradle and walked away from Charlie.

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Three days, _three days _had passed and Charlie had not talked to Claire at all, or she had not talked to him. He had seen her once or twice up by the caves; he knew that she was at the beach. Two nights ago, he had been really close to taken the drugs while he was sitting in the sand at the beach, but Claire had looked at him and he had put the statuette away again.

This was his fault; he had shut Claire out when he knew that she needed him right now. But he didn't know if she remembered the time when he told her about him being a drug addict. And that was hard – he really didn't want to get back on them. Charlie wanted to be with them; Claire and Aaron because he really cared about them. Charlie looked up from his thoughts when he heard Claire's voice – she was in the caves without Aaron and she was talking to Shannon.

Charlie gathered his courage and walked up to the two women. Shannon excused herself and walked off, leaving Claire there alone with Charlie. At first, Claire wanted to walk away, telling him she had nothing to say to him but yet, something inside stopped her and she turned to him.

"Hey, where's Aaron?" Charlie asked and looked at her. She swallowed and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Locke is babysitting him." Claire said and looked down. Locke? Charlie frowned and looked down too and then he looked up.

"Yeah? Why is _Locke _babysitting him?" Charlie asked carefully not to upset her. She heaved a sigh and looked at him.

"Charlie… no one else had time to do it so I asked Locke and he said yes," Claire said softly and saw the hurt look at his face. "I'm sorry about what happened a few days ago, but you clearly won't open up to me." She said and bit her lip, looking down.

She was right, but he just couldn't tell her, _'Oh, well look I found a statue with some bloody drugs in it, but every time I try to take them you show up and stops me from taking them because you mean everything to me' _he thought. And once again, Charlie was lost in thoughts of what Claire had said. He looked down for a long time.

"I would have had time to take care of him…" he whispered and kept looking down. 

"I'm sorry, Charlie, I meant no harm." Claire said and turned around, heading back to the beach. He had lost her again, and now he felt emptier than ever.

Claire wandered through the jungle. Why couldn't he just tell her? He had probably told her sometime, but she didn't remember. As she arrived at the beach, she saw Locke in her tent with Aaron. He was really like a father to her and a grandfather for Aaron. And Charlie was like a father for him, at least he had been.

She walked against her tent, having her arms crossed as she arrived there. Claire stood there for a while, listening to Locke telling stories for her son. She smiled a little, her usual smile. Locke looked up and saw her. He put down Aaron in his cradle and smiled at Claire.

"You're welcome, Claire." Locke said and left. He was weird that Locke, Claire thought. At least he was honest with her.

Claire lifted up Aaron and smiled at him. "Hi there, sweetie. Was Mr Locke nice to you?" she heard her son's soft baby sound and smiled even more. "You know, I really miss Charlie and his attempts to make us happy… I don't even know why I'm telling you and not Charlie." Claire said and chuckled to herself. That moment Locke walked in again, sitting down next to her and she looked puzzled at him.

"Sorry, I overheard. Just curious, why don't you tell him, Claire?" Locke asked and looked at her. Claire looked down and shook her head.

"I just can't, you know. I don't know if I can trust him-" Claire started but Locke quickly cut her off.

"And yet you leave your baby with him. Now, Claire, I think you need to make up your mind before he disappears from you and never comes back." Locke rose and left with those words. Claire pulled Aaron closer to her. Locke was right – she needed to find Charlie and tell him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Important Note: **This chapter have some spoilers from season 2; especially for 2x04 Everybody hates Hugo. And this is more of a fluff chapter!  
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Even though the sun wasn't shining anymore, and it was late, Claire wandered through the jungle – alone but with Aaron, desperate to find Charlie. If Locke hadn't talked to her, she would still be thinking that she didn't trust Charlie as much as she had thought.

Claire stopped as she heard a branch breaking somewhere else. She breathed deeply, holding Aaron close to her while looking around. Maybe she should have waited until the morning, walking in the jungle at night was not really good, at least not on an island. Claire saw some bushes move and she backed away but the only thing that came out from the bushes was Charlie. Sighing in relief, Claire walked against him and he frowned as he saw her.

"C-Claire? What are you doing out here at this time… and alone?" Charlie asked and looked at her. Even if it was dark, he could still see her face from the little moonlight that shone through the trees and he clearly saw that something was wrong.

"Charlie," she whispered and pulled him into a hug with one of her arms, still holding Aaron with the other one. "I'm so sorry; I've been so stupid…" Charlie hugged her back, not really understanding why she suddenly had changed her mind. He pulled away from her but looked at her instead.

"No, I'm the one who should have opened up to you. But why did you come, Claire? It's dangerous out here!" Charlie stated and Claire looked down, smiling a little.

"I-I was at the beach and I told Aaron how much I missed your attempts to make us ha-" Claire began but Charlie cut her off.

"Attempts? You're saying that I'm not succeeding with what I'm doing?" Charlie asked with a kind of hurt look at his face. Claire opened her mouth to speak but instead she shook her head.

No words were needed at that moment. Charlie understood what she meant by the look in her eyes. Together they walked back to the caves and put Aaron down in his crib, watching him falling asleep. Right now, Charlie had forgotten about the statuette and his drugs and instead felt the need to spend some time with Claire.

Earlier that day, Charlie had talked to Hurley, who had been in the hatch. Charlie had asked if there was any peanut butter, Hurley had said yes but denied him it. Charlie had found his own way to the hatch, by following Hurley and after sneaking into it, Charlie had taken a jar of peanut butter for Claire. Now he was holding it in his hand while Claire was sitting by Aaron's cradle. He quietly approached her, holding the jar behind him.

"Hey!" Claire said with a bright smile. "Are you keeping something from me?"

Charlie didn't answer her and he sat down next to her. As she looked to see if Aaron was still sleeping, Charlie held the peanut butter jar in his hand in front of her. When she turned her head back, she gasped as she saw the jar and she laughed softly, taking the jar from him, opening it.

He watched her smiling sweetly, dipping her finger into the peanut butter and tasting it. She closed her eyes and quickly opened them again, looking at Charlie.

"Thank you! I-I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you!" Claire said and looked at him, keeping the smile at her face. Charlie smiled back, shaking his head.

"Whatever trouble it was, it's worth it all!" Charlie said and smiled.

"Oh, do you want to taste it?" Claire asked and moved the jar in front of him. He laughed softly, dipping his finger into it and then he moved his finger to his mouth and tasted it.

"Bloody delicious, might have to get some milk." Charlie said and Claire giggled.

Claire put the jar down at the ground and kept looking at it for a while and then she took a deep breath and looked at Charlie. She looked down again.

"Maybe I should explain myself," Claire began and looked up at him, clearly seeing that he was confused. "I mean, when I said attempts… it's more than that. You do make me happy _and _Aaron, I need you to know that. When you're not around me, the only one I've got is Aaron because I can't trust the others like I trust you." Claire moved her head down, blushing and smiling slightly.

"Y-You trust me in a different way?" Charlie asked, looking at her. She definitely was something extra than all the other women he had known through his life.

Claire nodded and looked at him. "Yeah… of course. You were there for me before I was taken by Ethan and you're here for me now." Claire said.

"But do you remember anything from before?" Charlie asked her, studying her.

"I remember that I fainted and you were there to watch over me and you said I didn't scare you. And of course, peanut butter." Claire said and chuckled.

Charlie smiled brightly. Her memory was finally coming back and that was a really good thing. Then they could go back to normal and laughing at the memories they had shared. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company but Aaron broke the silence and started crying.

Claire moved a little, picking him up and tried to calm him. He didn't stop and Charlie could see the look at Claire's face. She had probably already fed him and changed him; he did wonder what was wrong. Maybe he didn't like the caves, or maybe he just wanted to ruin the nice moments between Claire and him. Charlie moved closer to Claire, reaching out his hands, taking Aaron from her without even asking for permission.

"Shh, Aaron, mommy and Charlie are here." Charlie said, rocking the baby boy in his arms. To both his and Claire's surprise, Aaron stopped crying and looked at Charlie, giggling a little. This amazed Claire and she felt a weird connection between her and Charlie.

"How – he calmed down…" Claire said and looked down at Aaron. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No Claire, you're not doing anything wrong," Charlie said and handed Aaron over to Claire. "I know it sounds silly, but did you ever think that he might want to prove that he likes me?"

Claire took Aaron into her arms and heard Charlie and she shrugged. "Yeah but do we - I mean does he really have to prove it?"

"No, Claire, you two don't have to prove it." Charlie said and smiled.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: **Some angst is coming up.

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A few weeks has passed. No rescue had come yet and some of the people, including Claire, were starting to feel restless. Charlie had tried to help her, but she had refused to.

So there he stood, watching her. She was staring out over the ocean, almost motionless. Sun was taking care of Aaron; actually she had been doing that a lot lately. Charlie knew that something was wrong with Claire, she loved Aaron and she wouldn't just leave him with someone like she had done lately.

Heaving a sigh, he walked up to Claire. He didn't touch her or anything, he just stood behind her for a while, admiring the view and he took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

"Claire, are you-" Charlie said slowly but Claire cut him off, shaking her head.

"You don't have to look after me," she simply said on the verge of tears. "I am fine, Charlie, really…" Claire bit her lip, turning her head to the side, getting a small glimpse of Charlie.

"Hey…" Charlie said and softly grabbed her arm, turning her gently around. She looked down, crossing her arms. "Whatever's wrong… we'll get through it… yeah, okay?" he said, insecure at what he said. She seemed to be so vulnerable and he sincerely wondered what was wrong.

He stroked her arm carefully and she shivered. What was going on in that mind of hers? That was his only thought right now. Charlie didn't fall for women like her and he definitely hadn't counted on falling for Claire. But there was something that had made him fall for her anyway, maybe it was redemption, maybe it was the thought of taking care of someone. But Charlie felt so much more for Claire, more than she should know, at least for now.

"Not this, Charlie… no…" Claire said and turned around, heaving a small sigh, followed by her swallowing. "I can't help but to think… when we get rescued… what the hell am I going to do, Charlie!" Claire spat out and turned to look at him. Well, at least she seemed a little but more relaxed now, but frustration and anger were written all over her face.

"I've already given you a place to stay, with _me_," Charlie tried helpless but he could see that it was not working nor helping for that matter. "Just calm down, okay?"

"I-I can't take care of Aaron, Charlie, it wasn't supposed to be this way…" Claire said with a shaky voice. She was going to put him up for adoption, _no the psychic _had already gotten a family for Aaron… a good family; well at least she had thought so. But there's no way she would have been able to give Aaron up after giving birth to him, _never. _But right now? Honestly, she doubted her ability to take care of him in the real world.

"Why are you saying this, Claire?" Charlie asked, feeling a slight shock from what she had just said.

Claire looked down and chuckled sadly and then she looked up at him again. "You just have no idea… you just, you don't," Claire said with a harsh voice, meaning every word she said. She was really loosing it, Charlie thought and he backed away a little.

"L-Look maybe you should think about-" Charlie started but Claire cut her off.

"I _am _thinking about what's best for Aaron if that's what you were going to say! But he's not your son, okay? He's mine, my responsibility so unless you know something about _us_, like we've been married before or he's yours, then stay out of it!" She spat out right in his face and she took a deep breath, noticing that the whole beach had heard her. Claire heaved a sad sigh and rushed past him against her tent.

"Claire!" Charlie yelled after her, trying to recover from what she had just said.

Kate, who had seen it all, rushed to Charlie and gave him a look, meaning that she'd talk to Claire. Then she moved on to Claire's tent and she got in, finding Claire. She was lying on her 'bed', crying her lungs out. Kate softly sat down at the edge and she stroked her back.

"Hey… Claire… sweetie?" Kate tried but Claire continued on lying there, crying and sobbing. "Everything's going to be okay, you just need to talk to someone,"

"Yeah," Claire said through her tears. "There is no way this is going to be 'okay'! I said some terrible things, and you know what, Kate? I don't even regret it. So much for Miss Sweet and innocent…" Claire said softly and sobbed quietly.

"I know what you mean, Claire…" Kate said softly. "You don't regret what you said 'cause in your heart, you mean it. I'm sure Charlie'll understand as soon as you talk to him,"

Claire looked up in horror at Kate and she swallowed. "No, I need some time away from him… please just leave me alone, okay?" Claire said seriously and looked at Kate. She nodded and left the tent.

Claire lay back down and closed her eyes, trying to refuse more tears to come. She needed to get Aaron and she needed to get through the camp without everyone looking at her like she was crazy. And most important of all; she needed to avoid Charlie. Funny, she never could have thought that this day would ever come when she would avoid him.

Charlie sat in the sand with his guitar. He was playing a little on it, but he wasn't really coming up with anything right now. All that was on his mind was Claire and all the things she had said. She had shown another side of herself; a side he really would have avoided. But of course, she wasn't herself and she was stressed out, he would have been too, just the thought of having to take care of a child alone frightened him.

He wanted to see her, but he was certain that she'd rather not see him. And as much as he tried, he couldn't feel even a little bit anger about what she had said.

Claire took a step out from her tent, making her way to Sun. She got looks from the people; some sympathy looks and some "what-kind-of-person-are-you" looks. As she arrived, Sun tried to start a conversation, but Claire just took Aaron and left. She looked at her son as she slowly walked. Claire loved him so much, it was undeniable that Charlie obviously cared a lot about Aaron, she thought. Not even Claire could avoid that. But Aaron was her son, not Charlie's and she had to raise him.

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: **This chapter might have spoilers for future episodes in season 2. I'm sure they're not _so _big though. Enjoy and thank you for your reviews!

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Claire walked out from her tent for the first time in days. She didn't know how many days had passed, but Sun had brought her food during the days she had spent alone in the tent. She held Aaron closely as she walked, feeling the warm sand beneath her feet.

As she looked out over the beach, she saw Mr. Eko. He was the one she'd never talked to. But now she made her way against him. She slowed down as she came to him and Claire stood there for a few seconds.

"Excuse me," Claire said with a small smile as he turned his head. "Do you mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," he said with a deep voice and continued on 'writing' things on his stick as he had done before she arrived. Claire stroked Aaron's forehead a little and then she looked at Eko.

"So, you're Eko, huh?" Claire asked and he nodded slightly, focusing on his stick. "I'm Claire and this little guy is Aaron!" she said happily and looked down at Aaron.

"Aaron was a great man…" Eko said and glanced at Claire.

The way Eko had acted around the other people, made her think he was religious. She remembered Charlie's Virgin Mary statue and she heaved a sigh. Claire had avoided Charlie and threw a lot in his face and he had done nothing to deserve it.

She looked up and looked out over the ocean. "Are you religious?" Claire asked softly and moved her gaze to Eko and he looked down, not answering. "Do you happen to know anything about Virgin Mary statues? Charlie's been carrying one around for some time now…"

"Virgin Mary statue?" Eko asked and looked at her. He said no more and looked down. "Where is it?" he quickly rose and looked down at her.

"What is wh-" Claire started with a nervous voice but he cut her off.

"_His _Virgin Mary statue!" Eko stated seriously. But she didn't get the chance to answer before Eko saw Charlie and ran towards him.

Claire heaved a small sigh, watching the scene between Eko and Charlie. Now she would get into a lot of trouble. Charlie disappeared for a while, when he came back he gave the statue to Eko.

Watching from distance didn't get her enough sight and she walked closer. Eko placed the statue on the ground and he raised his arm with his stick. Charlie saw this and he tried to stop Eko from doing what he was going to do, but he was too late and Eko smashed the statue into pieces.

People were now surrounding them and they all looked down at what had been in the statue, including Claire and she could not believe what she was seeing. Small plastic see-through bags containing heroin. Claire slowly looked up, meeting Charlie's eyes. Her eyes showed disappointment; she had trusted him. Trusted him with all her heart and Aaron.

"Tell me where you found it," Eko said and looked at Charlie. The people started to do the things they had done before. Everyone except Claire.

"Wait," Charlie said and looked at Claire. "Look, Claire, I can explain!"

"Why?" Claire asked seriously, trying to keep her voice down. "At least you could've told me!" she breathed deeply, holding Aaron closely. Eko walked away from them, knowing this had to be solved between the two of them.

"Oh, so you automatically think I knew about it?" Charlie lied and looked at her.

"You're going to lie to me now?" Claire asked seriously and raised her voice. "I can't believe you, Charlie!"

Claire turned around with a hurt look at her face and she started walking away. Charlie followed her, grabbing her arm softly but she quickly pulled it away, turning around and looking him straight in the eyes.

"I trusted you with Aaron and I trusted you with everything else! You owed me the truth but no, you go on lying! Just leave me alone." Claire said angrily and left him standing there, not really getting anything.

Claire left Aaron with Sun and then she walked far away from everyone else. She sank down in the yet warm sand as the sun started to set and it was growing darker. Burying her head in her hands, she heaved a small sigh. Why would she cry? Charlie _had been _her friend and nothing else. But why did it hurt so much?

When it was completely dark, she could hear Sun silently shouting her name. She softly rose but it felt like she was going to fall down just as quick. Slowly she walked back to camp and Sun handed Aaron over to her, worriedly.

"Charlie's out there," Sun said and looked at Claire. She looked up.

"So? I don't care," Claire said but in her heart she did care.

With that, Claire left for her own tent. After feeding Aaron and putting him in the crib, she heaved a sigh and walked outside. Everyone else was sleeping and she looked up at the starry sky. _Charlie, why? I trusted you so much… _Claire thought as she sat down in the sand. She closed her eyes and automatically lied down and soon she fell asleep.

As Charlie and Eko returned, he could see Claire lying in the sand outside her tent. He walked to her and softly lifted her up into his arms. Charlie walked into her tent and gently put her down on her 'bed' and then he left.

TBC…


End file.
